Teaching in Ecology

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research (Bio 499) - Every semester Dr. Koerner has 3-5 undergraduates working in her lab learning valuable hands on research. Typically, there are more people interested than Dr. Koerner can take. If this is something you are interested, please contact Dr. Koerner EARLY! And be prepared to tell her why you think being in her lab would help you towards your career goal.

​CURE in Bio 315 - Dr. Koerner and her lab run the Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in the Ecology and Evolution Lab (Bio 315) that all biology majors must take. This is a way for all biology majors to get a hands on authentic research experience even if they do not sign up for Bio 499 (which I strongly encourage you do!). In this CURE, student conduct a global change experiment in the greenhouse utilizing common grasses from the longleaf pine savanna understory. This data contributes to Dr. Koerner's research program that aims to help increase restoration success of longleaf pine savannas in the face of a rapidly changing world.

Undergraduate Courses

Which course Dr. Koerner teaches each semester changes depending on the need, so make sure to look her up in the course catalogue. Additionally, Dr. Koerner is developing new courses often!

Ecology (Bio 301) - This is a coure course that is required for all Biology majors. Multiple faculty teach this course including Dr. Koerner. Dr. Koerner utilizes Mastering Biology Homeworks as well as in class participation points (daily via iClicker) in addition to multiple choice tests. While the general format is lecture, each day there is a small interactive activity to keep things exciting.

Ecology & Evolution Lab (Bio 315) - This is a coure course that is required for all Biology majors. Multiple faculty and graduate students teach this course including Dr. Koerner. In addition, Dr. Koerner and her lab run the Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) which accounts for approximately a 1/3rd of this course. So even if Dr. Koerner is not your lecturer, you will be learning much about the research she does and contributing to her lab projects!

​Global Change Ecology (Bio 549) - The aim of this course is to learn about the science of climate change and the effects it has on ecological processes. It builds heavily off of Ecology (Bio 301). This is an interactive discussion based class. We have a lot of fun, and students present information on a regular basis in front of the class. Participation and engagement with the subject matter are imperative for doing well in this course.

​Graduate Courses

Workshops in Environmental Science: Community Dynamics (Bio 733) - Contact Dr. Koerner for more information about this course as the topics shift each semester to ensure relevant material for the current students. The goal is to provide students with a basis for a multitude of community analyses, helping them on the way to analyzing their own dissertation data.